Arts

Arts

5:06 am

Tue July 24, 2012

The Benson Theatre was built in 1926 as a vaudeville theatre. It was converted to a movie theatre in the 1940’s, and became retail space in 1953.

In 2010, the space was purchased by Lund Ross Contractors for the purpose of restoring the theatre to its original purpose.

Monty Eich, Marketing Manager for the Benson Theatre Project, says the organization wants the theatre to become a community hub. He says the plan is to offer live musical, theatrical, and comedy events, as well as select films.

Arts

5:06 am

Thu July 12, 2012

Mike Gurciullo and His Las Vegas Lab Band open the 2012 Jazz on the Green Series tonight at Turner Park.

Gurciullo is originally from Omaha, and spent more than a decade in Las Vegas as an entertainer. Gurciullo played lead jazz/trumpet in the Wayne Newton Orchestra for four years.

He says he and his band play classic standard arrangements of out of print or unpublished songs as well as original arrangements. Gurciullo says he and his band will be brining a bit of Las Vegas to Omaha tonight.

Arts

5:06 am

Wed July 11, 2012

Ruth Sokolof Theatre had its grand opening on July 27, 2007 and Film Streams is currently celebrating its 5th Anniversary.

Executive Director Rachel Jacobson says Film Streams has come a long way in five years, further than she expected. She says the overwhelming community support has allowed Film Streams to present all sorts of programs. Jacobson says the theatre shows about 150 films per year, and has offered many screenings in collaboration with community partners.

Arts

5:06 am

Tue July 10, 2012

More than 50 black and white photographs of civil rights leaders are on view at the Loves Jazz and Art Center through August 25th.

Selma to Montgomery: Marching Along the Voting Rights Trail is being offered as a lead-in to the November elections. Photos of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Harry Belafonte, and Ralph Abernathy are included in the exhibit. Program Director Janet Ashley says the photographs offer visitors the opportunity to see and feel an important moment in our nation’s history.

Arts

12:50 pm

Fri July 6, 2012

City officials hope the business and entrepreneurial communities will join arts organizations in this year’s Omaha Creative Week.

The third Creative Week begins August 31st. Right now, planned events include discussions on arts and social change, a film festival for movies made using smartphones, and an open rehearsal at Opera Omaha.

Mayor Jim Suttle says Creative Week celebrates innovations and ideas. “It’s what has made our city great and what will continue to make Omaha one of the most vibrant and unique cities in the nation.”

Arts

5:06 am

Thu July 5, 2012

The Durham Museum is offering visitors the opportunity to see one of the top 100 most significant documents in our nation’s history.

Shawna Forsberg, Durham Marketing Director, says original pages of the Pacific Railway Act are on view at the museum through the end of this month. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act on July 1, 1862, establishing Union Pacific Railroad Company.

Arts

5:06 am

Fri June 29, 2012

Artwork from the Kent Bellows Studio is on view in the Omaha Mayor’s office.

Anne Meysenburg, Executive Director for the Kent Bellows Studio, said Mayor Jim Suttle's office wanted something to connect them to the art community, as well as something to beautify their offices. She says the 12 pieces on display include some paintings, some drawings and collage work.

Meysenburg says the art was created by students over the past couple of semesters. She says the students and staff at the studio are excited about this collaboration with the Mayor’s office.

Arts

2:30 pm

Mon June 18, 2012

Omaha’s arts and culture industry is one the city can count on, according to a new report released last week.

The Arts and Economic Prosperity report shows arts and culture provides for 3,400 full-time jobs, both directly and indirectly, in Omaha.

Marjorie Maas, Director of Nebraskans for the Arts, says the city’s arts and culture organizations provided 89 million dollars worth of economic impact last year, making up half of the state’s 174 million.

Arts

1:00 am

Thu June 7, 2012

The Nuer people of South Sudan share two special connections with Nebraska. One is there are more Nuer living in Nebraska than anywhere outside South Sudan. The other is their preoccupation with cattle.

Terese Svoboda will present an evening of poetry and music, sharing the culture of the Nuer with Nebraskans and the Nuer living in Nebraska. Svoboda says the Nuer were made famous by E. Evans Pritchard’s classic text on social anthropology. But she says she shares her own personal connection to the people as well.